Hitmarker Highlights

Hello there ??

Welcome to the 30th edition of Hitmarker Highlights! ??

This week has been much more positive than last, thankfully, with an assortment of new rumors and leaks about the Switch's upcoming successor, as well as unannounced remasters of Oblivion and Red Dead Redemption.?

To the surprise of absolutely no one, Activision Blizzard is back in the news once again as it has ended up in yet another lawsuit, this time over a meme used in TikTok advertising.

Before we delve into any rumors, though, here are some real bonafide hot jobs!

Over 110 new jobs?have found their way onto Hitmarker this week. If you're on the hunt, we hope there's at least one for you!

2???Nintendo Switch successor reportedly targeted for a 2024 launch, with dev kits being distributed

• According to sources, Nintendo has now distributed development kits for its upcoming system to its "key partners" to expand its launch lineup and beyond. It is unknown who its partners are, but Ubisoft is thought to be one of them.
• The new console is expected to use cartridge-based games, similar to the Switch, though it is unclear whether it will be backward compatible. Nintendo previously stated that it intends to convert as many as 100 million Switch users to the new platform, implying that the feature will be included.
• Despite Nintendo's decision to release a new console years after its competitors, the?Xbox Series X/S and PlayStation 5 both experienced mass shortages in the first two years of their lifecycles, resulting in many titles failing to take full advantage of their power. Nintendo appears to be capitalizing on this fact, with its hardware typically being more in line with the previous generation.

Other news ???

This week has been filled with rumors, with claims of an upcoming announcement for Red Dead Redemption remastered becoming more believable and an alleged former Virtuos employee revealing a remaster or remake of Oblivion could be in the works.?

According to anonymous sources, Chinese technology company Lenovo is also preparing to enter the handheld gaming PC craze with some interesting differences from the Steam Deck.?

Activision couldn't avoid the news this week again, but this time, it found itself in a lawsuit over some TikTok audio, which it claims was given the right to use in its advertising. ??

???A new Red Dead Redemption logo has appeared on Rockstar’s website

???Lenovo allegedly working on a portable handheld PC

???The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion reportedly receiving a remake

???Activision is suing a TikTok content creator after he threatened to sue them for using his original audio clip

There were?a few stories?this week that we'd have loved to have fit into today's newsletter but couldn't quite manage to.

We've spotted a few despairing comments on our social media posts in the past few weeks from people getting discouraged at the lack of "Remote (Anywhere)" opportunities available in the industry, so we thought we'd put our focus back there for this week's insight. ??

We're despairing, too, honestly, because those are the roles that we know are most in demand and garner the most interest/applications. We search high and low every day to find every relevant remote role for you for that very reason, but they are becoming rarer.

If you've been reading our insights for a while, you may recall a chart we posted in May that showed the availability of truly remote work in gaming has now slipped back to pre-pandemic levels. Just 3.1% of all vacancies in 2023 had been Remote (Anywhere) by the end of May, falling towards the nadir of 2.8% in 2020. That number has stayed steady and is now 3.2%.

Still, it's not good, and if you don't live in one of gaming's hiring hotspots and can't relocate to them, we can totally understand how things can feel hopeless. Job numbers on the whole are down and remote work is getting rarer, making it tougher than ever to find your next home.

We'll still keep doing everything we can on our side to find the opportunities for you, as long as you promise to be ready when we do eventually post the perfect role! ??

Time for two of the best?LinkedIn?and?"X" (Twitter)?(??) posts from the past week now!

If you have some work experience and live in the US, Canada, the UK, or India, you're in luck, as these are some of the most popular locations for new junior-level gaming roles!

We've put together another cool little thread on?LinkedIn, rounding up some of the best positions currently available at the world's largest publishers and developers.

These aren't the only roles out there, though, take a look at the?others. ??

Community management remains one of our most popular categories, with many people looking to create welcoming online spaces, help run fun events, and bridge the gap between developers and fans. ??

We've created a thread on?Twitter?(X, if we must) with a variety of positions for people of all experience levels at companies like Nintendo, Bungie, and PlayStation.There's even an internship in there!

All of these and many more can be found in our?"community/social" section?on the platform.

The end ??

Thank you for reading, as always!

We really do appreciate your support, whether you've been reading the newsletter since the beginning or you've just discovered it with our 30th edition. We hope you've enjoyed our content. See you again same time next week??

Best wishes from us all,

Danny and the gang at Hitmarker ??